With the calendar flipped to August, the NHL free-agent market has been picked almost clean of high-end talent. Meanwhile, activity in the trade market has slowed to a crawl, as many teams invested much of their salary-cap space in previous trades and free-agent signings.
That hasn't stopped the NHL rumor mill from churning about possible trade destinations for Buffalo Sabres center Jack Eichel and St. Louis Blues winger Vladimir Tarasenko. The fates of notable unrestricted free agents such as Zach Parise and Kyle Palmieri continue to stoke conjecture among hockey insiders.